Tenants Claim Owner Bias

Couple Fear Being Forced Out

August 06, 2005|By MARYELLEN FILLO; Courant Staff Writer

NEWINGTON — A Gloucester Court couple has filed a federal lawsuit against a landlord and a building manager they claim are trying to force them out of their home because they are black, Nigerian Americans.

The discrimination suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford by Emmanuel and Stella Akosa, challenges Silco Management Co.'s attempts to force them and their three children from their two-story townhouse at Salem Village Apartments.

Named as defendants in the suit are Cohen Family: Limited Partnership, which owns the apartment property, Silco Management Co. and Stephen Silverman, an Avon resident who manages the complex.

According to the suit filed last month, Silverman had warned the couple that too many people were living in the unit and they should move to avoid eviction. In July 2004, the Akosas received two letters that their lease would not be renewed and that they should vacate the apartment by August 2004. No reason was given for the notification, according to the suit. When the Akosas, who had lived in the townhouse since 1997, began fighting their threatened removal, they were served with an eviction notice in September. The notice was served despite a report by the town's building inspector that there was no violation of the local housing code.

After the Akosas filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, the defendants, the suit claims, alleged the couple did not pay their rent on time, illegally parked their car in a fire lane and damaged the apartment. The defendants, according to the suit, also claimed that the family caused excessive noise and that there had been complaints from neighbors that there were noxious odors emanating from the apartment.

``They have been very personally violated,'' said Erin Kemple, the lawyer with the Connecticut Fair Housing Center who is representing the couple. ``They have a lot of pride and there have been some awful things said about them.''

Silverman could not be reached for comment Friday. His attorney, Norman Pattis, could not be reached either. A woman who answered the phone at Silverman's house called the suit ``ridiculous.''

Stella Akosa is a medical doctor who is not currently practicing because she wanted to stay home with her children, Kemple said. Emmanuel Akosa is a civil engineer who is employed by the state.

The suit states that no one from the apartment management ever contacted the Akosas about any alleged violations until after the CHRO complaint was filed in August 2004. According to Kemple, the CHRO could not substantiate any of the allegations against the Akosas.

The Akosas continue to live at their Gloucester Court address.

Charging the defendants with violating the federal Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Akosas are seeking temporary and permanent injunctions to stop the eviction proceedings and any subsequent retaliation against them for exercising their legal rights. The suit also asks that the defendants apologize to the couple for allegations made against them, their children and their housekeeping practice, and that the defendants and their employees at the complex attend fair housing training. The couple is also seeking lawyers and court costs as well as an unspecified amount for punitive and related damages.